It just goes to show that a horse can get hung up and in trouble even when there seems to be nothing around to be caught in. Here, a pony mare on the Loughhor Estuary marshland in Gower, South Wales got her back hoof caught in her mane(!) and was unable to stand. With the tide coming in, the two would have died if she had not received help.
Luckily, a bystander spotted them and called the situation in to the RSPCA. RSPCA Inspectors Nigel Duguid and Neill Manley were able to restrain the mare and cut her free. Although she looks stiff and sore, she seems to be okay.
Last spring Freedom was suffering from what we thought to be a pulled gluteal muscle. I’d seen him slip on some ice and after a few days of real lameness, he was just stiff.
A friend of mine, who is also a vet, offered to treat him using acupuncture to see if it helped. (You can read about it here – Freedom gets acupuncture).
Freedom was not a very cooperative patient. He’d just as soon body slam you into the wall than let you stick needles into him. Of course, he’s a lot like that when he’s being groomed, too.
Check out these acupuncture needles. They were bent by the muscles twitching during treatment!
But the acupuncture did make a real difference. After the sessions he was more relaxed and it seems to have helped accelerate the healing. After a few sessions he was much improved and I went back to giving him acupressure massage.
It seems like equine acupuncture is gaining more mainstream acceptance. There are more vets in my area who offer it and owners are starting to think about it for treatment.
So, how does acupuncture work?
Inserting acupuncture needles stimulates tiny nerve endings that carry impulses to the spinal cord and brain. This releases enkephalins, endorphins, and serotonin, which all act as natural painkillers — this can be a real benefit for competition horses where treatment by drugs would be banned.
Acupuncture is used to:
relieve muscle spasms
speed the healing process by removing toxins and increasing blood flow
release the body’s natural cortisone to reduce swelling and
boost the immune system
While it can be used to treat specific issues, some horse owners also use it as part of a general maintenance program (like massage) to keep their horse comfortable.
So, tell me what have your experiences been with acupuncture for your horse?
By the end of our ride, Freedom was hot and lathered.
The past two days it’s been in the mid to high 70s here. That’s amazing for the middle of March and too darn hot for a horse that still has his winter coat.
Yesterday I took advantage of the beautiful day and took a two hour ride. I met my husband at one of our favorite local walks and while he walked, I rode.
A few times around this field and Freedom was hot but not at all tired.
Freedom wanted to move along and I did have a couple of nice gallops in one of the big fields. But between the heat, the humidity and his high spirits, Freedom was hot, sweaty and uncomfortable. I gave him a good bath when we got home but even this morning he still looked hot and sticky.
Freedom looked much cooler after his clip job.
So today, I took matters into my own hands and brought out the clippers. I’ll probably take the rest of his coat off later this week, but with only 40 minutes to spare, I did the next best thing — a high trace clip. He looked so much more comfortable! And think of all the birds’ nests that will be lined with soft chestnut hair.
Even with the remains of his trace clip, Freedom is still overheating in the balmy temperatures in Boston this spring.
The temperatures in the Boston area are expected to be in the 70s in the coming week — after being in the high 60s earlier this week. It’s not often that I can ride in shirt sleeves in March and feel hot!
Not to complain, but the heat is getting to Freedom, too. Although I trace clipped him in the fall, he’s furry enough now that he’s really getting hot from even a modest work out. He’s not really shedding yet, no matter how vigorously I groom him.
I’ve been eying his winter coat all week and just itching to take my clippers to him but then the temperatures dropped and it was raw and rainy.
Now I’m tempted to give him a bath on Sunday and then cut it all off. I’m not crazy about the color of a recently clipped chestnut, but there’s plenty of time for his summer coat to grow in.
Do you let your horse shed naturally? Or do you take matters into your own hands and clip?
Read guidelines on how to change over your horse's feed at EquestrianHow2.
For horses, consistency in their diet is key to good health. Horses develop a microbial population in their intestines that is specific to what they are being fed. Changing it can cause digestive upset that can lead to colic and, in extreme cases, laminitis. According to a recent SmartPak Webinar, 10 Guidelines for Smarter Feeding, changing hay can increase the risk of colic by a factor of 10; changing other feeds increases the risk of colic by a factor of 5.
It takes time for the gut to develop a new bacterial population so most people recommend changing no more than 25% of your horse’s ration at a time, giving its intestinal bacteria time to develop. Of course, if you feed just a handful of grain or a small amount of ration balancer you can change over more quickly than a horse eating 8 to 12 pounds of a complete feed, so use your judgment.
The horses don't seem to mind the cold, snowy weather
The first night I had Freedom was the last night he spent in a stall. When I came to check on him the next morning, I found that he had weaved so much with his head over the Dutch door that he’d rubbed a bloody spot on his neck. That was it. I turned him out 24/7 and he has been happy as a clam. The only time he stands inside is during the summer, when he wants to avoid the heat and the bugs. But then it’s on his terms: no closed doors.
But that’s not the case for all horses. My friend Suzanne writes in her blog that her mare is unhappy with the turnout situation at her new (temporary) barn:
Poor Sug, she hates turnout (yes, she really does) and here she is out from 8am to 3 in a nice big paddock in a place where she can see everything. Every car, every person that walks the property in her range of vision is a potential staff worker… “Hey you…. yes you, can you not see that it’s time for me to come in… The sun is too bright/dark! The wind is too brisk/quiet. The air too warm/cold. Take me in please! Take me in now!”
And another friend mentioned that her horse used to jump out of his paddock so he could go back to his stall!
When it's warm, I often find them snoozing in the sun.
The four horses at our barn are out in all weather, all the time. They have the option to go inside, but they rarely take advantage of it.
What about your horses? Do they prefer the comfort of a cozy stall or are they happy to be out in the elements?
Before I moved to this barn my horses were turned out maybe 6 hours a day and if the weather was bad, maybe not at all. What is your horse’s turnout schedule like?
Nasal discharge is the most common indicator of choke.
Choking, in horses, happens when their esophagus becomes blocked — usually from bolting their food or from eating very dry food without having access to water. Unlike when a human chokes, a horse can still breathe, but choking can be quite serious. Horses that choke can damage their esophagus and, if the backed up food, saliva or water gets into their longs, they can develop pneumonia.
While I have never seen a horse experience an episode of choke, one of the horses at our barn had a serious incident of choke this past fall. She’s a horse who loves her food and is always in a hurry to eat as much as she can. She got into the grain room and then also got into a tub of hay stretcher pellets. These pellets lodged in her through and got stuck.
What are the signs?
Horses that choke present in different ways.
They may get agitated.
They may extend their necks.
They may appear to be gagging (horses are unable to throw up).
Discharge will likely come out of their nose.
Sometimes you can feel the mass in their neck.
It’s pretty horrifying. And it makes you feel quite helpless.
What you should do when your horse chokes.
The most important thing to do is call the vet. Sometimes choke can clear on its own, in few minutes, and sometimes it will be necessary for the vet to come and help the choke clear. Choke is easier and more successfully treated when it first occurs.
Once the vet is on the way, you should try to keep your horse quiet and calm. Don’t let it eat or drink and avoid exercise.
Sometimes you can help clear the blockage by massaging the neck gently.
Sometimes your vet might suggest dosing with Acepromazine. In some cases it can cause the esophagus to relax enough that the horse can swallow the mass. If that doesn’t work, the vet may try gently dislodging the mass with a tube.
If that doesn’t work, your vet may sedate with Xyline. Once your horse’s head is lowered (as the result of the sedation) they can use a warm water lavage to wash down the impacted feed.
After the impact is cleared, your vet may prescribe antibiotics in case any fluids have been aspirated.
Preventing future episodes of choke
Once a horse has experienced an episode of choke they are more likely to choke again because there may damage to their esophagus. To keep your horse safe from a another episode of choke there are some steps you can take:
Add large rocks to your horse’s grain to slow down their eating
Soak grain or any pelleted feeds before feeding
Don’t feed grass clippings
Avoid feeding dry beet pulp, especially to horses that bolt their feed.
Avoid feeding large chunks of apples or carrots.
As for Curly, our resident food bolter? She has made a full recovery without any serious complications. She gets only soaked feed and all pelleted feed is kept under double lock and key.
Certainly Curly’s experience with choke has changed my opinion about it. I’ve never had a horse that bolts their feed. Mine have all taken their time eating. But I no longer discount the risk of choke. I continue to soak Freedom’s feed and it’s something I plan to continue. It seems a very simple thing to do which can help prevent great distress to my horse.
Has your horse ever choked? What did you do?
Here’s a video that shows some of the symptoms of choke.
Although we’ve had a very mild winter so far in New England, it is winter nonetheless. Saturday night, Sunday and Monday mornings, winter made itself felt with overnight lows in the single digits and daytime highs in the low teens.
How can you help your horse stay comfortable when the temperatures drop? Especially when they drop suddenly? Temperature swings are hard on horses so taking a bit of extra care is important.
Make sure your horse stays hydrated. When water buckets freeze and tanks ice over, horses can become dehydrated quickly. Make sure your horse has access to plenty of clean, unfrozen water. Many horses prefer to drink water that’s been slightly heated. We use stock tank heaters and I also add extra warm water to Freedom’s beet-pulp soaked grain, figuring every bit helps.
To encourage your horse to drink more, try adding table salt to your horse’s grain. Even if you have salt licks available, horses may not be using them enough and adding two tablespoons of table salt can encourage them to drink more.
Feed more forage. Horses heat themselves from the inside out through the digestion of forage. Adding a few extra flakes of hay to their daily regime can help keep them warm. I’ve been very pleased with the slow hay feeders (Nibblenets) that we started using at the end of December because they help the hay last longer during those cold nights. I also add a bit more beet pulp to Freedom’s feed (up to 1 lb).
Blanket appropriately. If your horse has a heavy winter coat, chances are he’ll be fine even in single digit temperatures. If your horse is clipped, is already thin, or it’s very wet and windy, you might want to consider adding a blanket to keep them warmer. When temperatures drop below 15 degrees, I break out Freedom’s heavyweight Rambo blanket.
Freedom wearing his heavyweight Rambo Wug. I particularly like the fact that it has a high neck, to help keep him warm.
Make sure they have access to shelter. Our horses live out 24/7 but have access to their stalls. That way, if the weather is bad, they have the option of taking shelter. Interestingly, they rarely go inside during the winter but seem happiest out — even during blowing snowstorms.
Keep in mind that horses are more bothered by the heat than by the cold. If your horses are well fed and have either a natural coat or a blanket, the most important thing to give them is plenty of water.
